Translucent panel for signs and ornamental purposes.



G. R. MEYERGORD. TRANSLUGENT PANEL FOR SIGNS AND ORNAMENTAL PURPOSES.

APPLICATION FILED AUG. 17, 1910.

I 9 1k 9 c G D d 9 t n 6 L 0% D1 GEORGE Rf MEYERCOIRD, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS. F

TRANSLUGENT "PANEL FOB SIGNS AND ORNAMENTAL PURPOSES.

Specification of Letters Patent;

Application filed August 17, 1910. Serial No. 577,668.

To all whom. it may concern:

Be it known that l, Gnonen R. MEYER- conn, a citizen of the United States,residing at Chicago,county nois, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Translucent Panels for Signs and Ornamental Purposes, and de- Clare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description'of the same, such as -W1ll enable others skilled in the artto which it pertains to make and use-the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, which form a part of this specification.

It is commonto employ illuminating panels in signs and decorative work of various kinds. Heretofore such panels. have been-made of glass treated so as to be translucent but-not quite transparent, thereby causing the glass to form a soft back ground for the subject ofthe sign or of the decoration. Because of the fragility-of glass, it being easily cracked or broken, panels made thereof, in order to have any considerable strength, must be-made thick and heavy. A heavy panel requires a strong heavy frame which adds to the expense and. weight of the device containing the panel. Even where a maximum strength is. obtained by increased weight, great care must be taken during the shipment, installationnand use of devices having glass panels in order to prevent the-panels from beingdamaged.

My invention'has-for its object to produce an attractive, strong and durable substitute for glass, particularly where used as a panel.-

in the sign or decorative device intended to be illuminated.

A further object of my invention iis to produce a translucent panel having .thereon a colored translucentv subject which will show in clear soft. colors. when the-panel is illuminated.

Ifhe various features of novelty whereby my invention is characterized will be pointed out with particularity in..the appended claimsybut, for a fullunderstanding of my invention and of its object and advantages, reference is to be had'to the. followingdetailed description taken in connection with the accompanying. drawing wherein Figural is a front elevation of a sign embodying my invention; Fig. 21s :a secof Cook, State of lllis tion taken at right angles to Fig. 1; Fig. 3 is a view on an enlarged scale of the face of the sign; and Fig. 4.- is'a transverse section on an enlarged scale through the panel illustrated in Fig. 3.

Incarrying out my invention 1 make use PatentedlDec. 9. 1913.

of a perforated sheet, preferably in the form of a wire screen of fine mesh to form the body of the panel. On the screen -i press a-decalcomania film andalso close the per* forations or interstices with some adhesive translucent material, contrasting .in color with the color of the film or of the-subject formed by the film.

I have found that shellac may-be used advantageously as the filler since it adheres firmly to the body and, upon drying, presents. a hard glossy surface. By using a wire or screennetting and clean shellac an imperforate panel may be used which has the appearance of perforate glass -whenviewed with the light shining through it, the shellac having sufficient opaqueness to render a lamp or other illuminating device in rear of the panel invisible from the front. The hardness and glossiness of the surface may be increased by mixing with the shellac a smallwquantity of powdered sodium silicate.

The panel :may be vproduced-in various ways. Thusthe filler may be applied-to the naked screen by means of'a brush or by dip ping the screen in a bath 'ofshellac, varnish, or other suitable material. \Vhen the screen has become. dry, the subject may be painted thereon in translucent materials or by pressing va translucent, colored decalcomania' film upon the screen. When the filler is applied it" leaves the surface "of the panel uneven,

the thickness of the panel as a whole being least at the center of the smallsquares bounded by -the crossingwires and being thickest adjacent tothe wires and particularly at the corners of the squares. When a decalcomania film ismounted on a surface of this kind, the pressure employed in mounting it causes it to conformclosely to the supporting surface; the film being stretched over each square'or interstice in the screen so as to make it contain numerous small cup-shaped depressions. Decalcomania films'are resilient and elastic enough to permit this distortion when they are applied but afterward, when they dry out and particularly when subjectedto the heat of a lamp or other source of illumination, they become brittle and crack throughout the stretched portions, unless some means is provided for preventing this. The cracking of the film destroys the beauty of the panel when illuminated and greatly decreases the value of the panel. In accordance with one feature of my invention I provide means for preventing the cracking of the film under any ordinary conditions encountered in the service to which the panel is to be put, I accomplish this by covering the film with a layer of shellac or varnish which serves the same purpose, as if the film were incorpo- ,rated therewith, and therefore makes it neccover it on both sides with adhesive material in any suitable manner. In this way the varnish or shellac engages with both sides of ,the film at the same time that it reaches the wires of the screen, the inner surfaces of the coatings on opposite sides taking the shape into which the film has been pressed and adheririg closely to it. At the same time the interstices in the screen about the film are filled in the same manner as if the screen were dipped or otherwise coated in its bare condition.-' I much prefer to make the panel by the last, method, applying the coating by dipping the screen after -the film has been applied. When the film is pressed in place on the screen it is stretched into nu: merous cup-like sections each of which-extends into one of theinters'tices of the screen.

. Because of failure of the adhesive material on the film to hold fast to-the wires, or for other reasons, it has been found that some of the cup-like sections will flatten out and assume their original shape when the pressure is removed from the film. This makes the decoration rough and uneigen and detracts greatly from the beauty of the panel. I havefound, however, that by dipping the screen in varnish or shellac before the film has'time to dry and set, and then allowing the excess of varnish or shellac to drip from the panel, all of the flattened sections will again be drawn back into their cup-like form, thus preserving the uniformity of contour of the surface of the panel. This result seems to be caused by the viscosity of the varnish or shellac which, entering between the wires in rear 'of a flattened section of the film, sticks to the film and, as the excess of varnish or shellacfiowsoff, a pull is ex- N erted upon the fiat film and it is again drawn into its cup-like shape. hardens and sets the film is of course held rigid and can no longer become displaced.

Referring to the drawing, A. represents a panel for a sign made in accordance with my invention and having painted thereon the word Cigars. In rear of the panel is an illuminating device, such as an electric light B. When the light is turned on a soft glow will emanate from the entire panel and the translucent letters will glow brilliantly so as "to produce an extremely attractive and pleasing efiect.

In Figs. 3 and 4 I have illustrated a fragment of the panel on an enlarged scale. Thus a, a, and a, a, represent the two sets of wires "of an ordinary close meshed wire screen. 0: is the filler and a the decalcomania film. The cross section of the panel will be the same as that shown in Fig. 4 regardless of which of the two methods of manufacture is employed, the first coating of the screen merging itself into the second coating if the film is applied between two dippings and the thickness. of the filling layer being also somewhat greater where the filler is applied in two coats than where it is applied in one.

The surface of in the same manner as glass while at the same time the panel is tougher and much more durable. Furthermore, while I have shown in the drawing simply a plain panel. it is evident my improved material may be given any desired shape not only in its incompleted state and before the filler is applied, but even afterward, for my improved material is extremely flexible and may be bent into many different forms Without injury; in fact a sheet may be -rolled up in the same manner as ordinary wire screenin without in any way afi'ecting itf While I have described in detail only a I preferred embodiment of my inventionand have illustrated itas applied to am simple sign, I do not desire to be limited tothe' When the coating the panel may be washed I specific devices disclosed since my invention may take many other forms as will be evident from the terms employed in the definitions thereof comprising the appended claims. 4 4

What I claim is:

1. A panel comprising a wire screen bearing directly thereon a decalcomania film having numerous small cup-like portions extending into the interstices of the screen,

.and an adhesive coating covering the screen and filling the interstices behind vsaid cup-,

like portions.

meoeee Y g 2. A panel comprising a wire screen bear- In testimony whereof, I sign this specifiow ing directly thereon a, decelcomanie film tion in the presence of two witnesses having numerous small cup-like portions ex-- GEURGE R rending into the interstices of the screen,

7 5 and an adhesive coating covering the screen Witnesses:

and filling the interstices and engagiiig with. M. BRYANT, both sides of thefilm. I L. W, KRAL, 

